So now it’s just us writers here, I’m going to talk industry. And it’s June, which if you’re an organization-inclined romance writer you know means there must be some kerfluffle in the works between RWA and it’s membership. As the digital web does such a great job of connecting us, it doesn’t take more than the google skills of a second grader to find evidence of this year’s outcry.

It is hard to pick a starting point for it, but a heavy finger lands on the June issue of the RWR, RWA’s monthly member publication. In her monthly column “From The President”, current pres Diane Pershing went to great lengths to snub her nose at the electronically published segment of the membership, while patting herself on the back for leading an organization that looks out for “all” its members.

In a nutshell, RWA does not consider any writer who does not demand an advance of at least $1000 for their work to be a career focused professional. These writers may join the organization, but do not receive the same privileges of the advance-demanding authors.

Likewise RWA does not consider any publisher that does not pay an advance to be an “Eligible” publisher. Not eligible to speak at national conference workshops or take appointments there with authors are technically the big negatives for these non-Eligible publishers, but there’s also a very damaging stigma that comes with being lumped in with the Publish America and Triskelion’s of the publishing world to be considered.

Some of these “All” members that Ms Pershing declares she is looking out for disagree with her views and opinions. Some loudly, on the web and in letters to the board. Some quietly, simply by leaving the organization. Some members who disagree remain with RWA, hoping that they can eventually help educate the board, and that with education will come the realization that digital publishing is not a threat to authors, but instead a very positive alternative. Many, many more stay only because they feel suffering through membership on the national level is worth it for the support and friendships they have at their local chapter / online chapter, which they can not be a part of without also joining the national organization.

Earlier this week Deidre Knight, agent and author, added her eloquent voice to the discussion in an article entitled The Digital Age and RWA : A Call for Change. There is a lot of well thought out, rational information in there, and if Ms Knight were not made ineligible for national office due to her position as an agent, I would be leading the call for her to run for office on the board.

Today Ms. Pershing has published her response, RWA President Pershing Responds. Reading that made me realize that Ms Pershing and I have two very different opinions on how the board looks out for “All” it’s members.

To Ms. Pershing, to look out for “All” means to divide the “All” into little groups, much like a grade school teacher will divide her class into groups. One of these groups need remedial reading help. These students will get the very helpful support of teachers, and some guidance from their more learned peers, with the hopes that they can eventually move up to more advanced groups. One group is humming along, having mastered enough skills that they can consider themselves good at what they do. One of these groups are the students at the top of the class, and can go to the library to read unsupervised. And one of the groups is made of students that will have to go out and stand in the hallway until class is over, punished for insisting they belong in the second or third group when Ms Pershing believes they belong in the first group, or in no group at all.

I question RWA’s need to divide the membership into groups at all. We are all writers “seriously pursuing a romance fiction writing career.” What is gained by the creation of PAN (the authors RWA considers published) and PRO (the authors that have proven to RWA’s satisfaction that they are seriously pursing a career by providing very specific evidence of this pursuit to RWA)? What super secret information is dispensed behind the closed groups that could not be shared with the organization as a whole, benefiting “ALL” members in the process?

RWA can’t even consider accepting serious digitally published authors into it’s midst, so I do not see my opinion that PAN and PRO are part of the problem being a popular one. But if RWA truly wants to be an organization dedicated to supporting “All” its membership, then it needs to stop creating divisions, and work on unifying the talented people it has in its folds.

Kristen Painter, co-founder of the award winning site Romance Divas, has put a call out for writers to sign a petition for RWA to change their Rita and GH rules that exclude epubbed and small press authors. I know this is an issue near and dear to many writers, so I decided to post about the petition and give you all the option to sign it.

Here’s the link: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ChangeRWA/index.html

After you sign, you may be taken to a page asking for a donation…just ignore that. Your signature is recorded regardless.

JANUARY 16th and 17th, 2009
Come participate in a Romance Divas workshop with an in depth look at the way successful Erotic authors have created a story that’s not only HOT but also meaningful.
This workshop will be held in the Diva’s Secrets Steamy section which requires special permission. Please contact an administrator HERE when you have created an account. There are no requirements other than your statement that you are over 18.
This is for readers and authors alike so come and join us.

If you’re an author, whether you’re targeting Dorchester or not, this blog is starting off as one that is full of insight on publishing.  Check her post on book scheduling to see what I mean.

Imogen Howson chose: Lia Sebastian.
Carrie Jackson chose: amme
Jennifer Miller chose:  Jeanne Laws
Anne Scott chose:  Allison
Sarah Palmero chose:  Meredith
Linda Ingmanson chose:  Dee
Laurie M. Rauch chose:  Ann(ie)
Eve Joyce chose:  Indigo
Heidi Moore chose:  Rebecca Carrie
Lindsey McGurk chose:  Mitzi Flyte

Huge congrats to all who entered, and good luck to those moving on to the final read!

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And now an announcement -

Come by The Classroom on the Romance Divas forums (registration required, but it’s free) June 11-13.  Angela James, Executive Editor of Samhain Publishing, will be answering questions about Pitches, Queries, and Synopsis. If you’re heading to conference in July, you don’t want to miss the chance to find out what an editor is looking for in a formal pitch, an elevator pitch, and a barstool pitch. (Please, don’t go for the bathroom pitch!)

Other questions are welcome too. See you in the classroom!

And lately, only a very small part of them to spend writing.

I’ve been squeezing every minute I can into getting my wip from fingers to screen, so not much blog time – neither reading, or writing.  But I did peek my head up into the blogosphere yesterday to make note that Samhain Publishing has been granted RWA approval.  Since I’ve got a ms with them, this made me giddy-happy.  Gratz to Chrissy, Angie, and all the staff and authors for a phenomenal first year.  Hope you have many, many more to come!

Trace Edward Zaber of Amber Quill will be in the Romance Divas Chat Room, answering our questions about publishing, Amber Quill, and the Heat Wave contest. Come get the inside scoop on what it takes to win this prestigious writing competition.

Last year the Divas had a great presence on the winners list. Come chat with Trace and find out exactly what he’s looking for in 2007 as Amber Quill runs their 15 day open submission contest.

Learn more about the Heat Wave here. Then stop by the chat Friday night for the final word.

See you there!

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Trace Edward Zaber

Trace is a Chicago-area writer, specializing in Civil War fiction. In 2000, Trace’s debut novel, Sins of the Father, won Word Weaving’s first-ever Award For Literary Excellence and it was nominated for an EPPIE Award in the Best Historical Fiction category. Also available soon will be Trace’s seven-part Civil War series The Culpeper Chronicles, including the first book in the series, One Bitter And Deadly Harvest, and the second book, Two Nations Under God. Moreover, Trace’s stories “Blood Brothers” and “The Collections of Bethlehem” have garnered several awards and appeared in a Historical Anthology Twilight Antiquity. Another of his stories, “Esprit De Corps,” appeared as part of the award-winning Tales of the Spirit of Hope, Love, and Redemption charitable anthology.

Trace is also the Managing Editor and part of the writing team—collaboratively known as T. C. Jilké—for Amber Circle, the 1st E-Soap for the CyberAge!

Additionally, Trace moderates several writers’ critique groups, was a featured author at Barnes & Noble’s Writers’ Harvest 1997, and was the owner/editor of the award-winning Of Ages Past Magazine (now defunct).

On the side—and much to the surprise of those who know him only by his prose—Trace is a rock ’n’ roller, an accomplished vocalist and keyboard player. During his lengthy musical career as a recording artist and songwriter, and as a member of more than two dozen bands, he toured as a support act for world-renowned groups such as Judas Priest, Heart, and Jefferson Starship, and even played the challenging lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar. Aside from his own studio work, Trace’s voice can also be heard on various albums, where he performed as a guest background vocalist, as well as on television ads, including Pizza Hut, when he worked as a jingle singer for several advertising agencies. Most recently, in 2002, Trace signed his fifth recording contract, this time as the lead vocalist with DSG (The Dave Shankle Group—Dave Shankle is the former award-winning guitarist and Guinness Book Of World Records guitarist with heavy-metal legends, Manowar). The first DSG album, Ashes To Ashes, is now available from Magic Circle Music/Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s website is online at http://davidshankle.com, where you can read the official biography, reviews of the album, even download snippets of the various tracks and also the band’s two full-length music videos, “Ashes To Ashes” and “Calling All Heroes.” The CD is available for purchase there as well. (Update: Due to his work with Amber Quill Press and as a cover artist, Trace has recently made the difficult decision to leave the band and put his side contract as a solo recording artist on hold.)

And if that wasn’t enough, Trace is also the owner of By Thunder, which includes several authoring services—Thundergraph: Web Design, Graphics, & Webmastering; ThunderProse: Professional Editing Services; and ThunderArt, the division of By Thunder that creates award-winning cover art for both e-books and paperbacks. Currently, Trace is also the Editorial Director and Creative Director for Amber Quill Press. His cover art won the Spectrum Award for “Best Overall Cover Art” 2001, and the 2004 Quasar Award for “Best In Category—Suspense/Thriller” and twice in 2005 for both “Best In Category—Horror” and “Best In Category—Mainstream.” He consistently places in the Top 10 in various author/reader polls for both “Best Cover Artist” and for specific book covers.

Special guests include authors Eden Bradley, Shelley Bradley, Joey Hill, Alison Kent, and Sunny; agents Jessica Faust of Bookends, LLC and Laura Bradford of The Bradford Literary Agency; and Raelene Gorlinsky of Elloras Cave and Treva Harte of Loose ID.

During these three days our guests will talk in the “Diva Secret Workshops” section of our forums about the lines/houses they work for; why the authors targeted that particular line; what agents and editors are looking to acquire ; changes in the Erotic Romance industry over the past year; self promotion; as well as whatever craft questions our imaginative members can come up with.

Because of the adult questions covered in this workshop, it is in a heavily moderated section of the Romance Divas forums. You will need to register, and then ask for permission to enter the classroom section. Please register ahead of time to make sure you don’t miss any part of this exciting and informative three day session.

Check back tomorrow to meet the agents who will be answering questions – Jessica Faust of Bookends, LLC and Laura Bradford of The Bradford Literary Agency!

Warning – Sizzling Hot Questions &Answers Ahead!

Ready to learn from the Pro’s?

Please join Romance Divas from September 19^th  - 21^st as we host some of Erotic Romance’s hottest names!

This free question and answer session will be held in the Divas Steamy Workshop section of our forums.  Because of the adult themes and language, this workshop will be limited to our members who are 18 and older.  Click here to visit out our Steamy Workshop and make sure you have access before the event begins!

Confirmed guests include :

Erotic Romance Authors: Eden Bradley, Joey Hill, Shelley Bradley, and Sunny

Agents: Jessica Faust and Laura Bradford

Editors : Treva Harte of Loose ID and Raelene Gorlinsky  of Ellora’s Cave.

Contact Karen if you have any questions prior to the event.

Writers, readers, fans, and anyone curious about one of the fastest growing segments of romance are welcome.  Be sure to join us to ask these industry professionals your most burning questions, and learn from their suggestions and advice!

Permission to forward granted